


Windchimes

by kiyokira



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/M, Gentleness, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24086782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyokira/pseuds/kiyokira
Summary: A birthday gift for a wonderful friend. Domestic Togafuka, post-despair fluff. Byakuya doesn't know what to do with a life that he's allowed to choose for himself.
Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Windchimes

Idle breezes stroll through early morning hours, rolling over hills and building tops--rushing past dull and dusty city streets. Innocent air only making its never ending journey across Japan just so manages to find its way past an open window, and Byakuya Togami wakes in a start.

He doesn't jump out of bed--no jolting of the sort. Byakuya isn't the type to outwardly express panic, but he couldn't deny the unwanted stimuli on his fight or flight that had ended his slumber. His breath lies still in his throat, and it stays there as his hazy mind struggles to wake and process. It works like a machine, analyzing all possible threats through his senses, and there he hears it.

Ding.... Ding.... Ding...

...So that's what it is. The sound of gentle ringing cascades from outside the window into a dully lit bedroom, and Byakuya's breath falls past his lips in a relieved sigh. That's right... She'd brought home windchimes from her last venture out into the city.

Pale blue eyes remain unfocused on the figure that laid beside him, the early morning sun not yet waking her. With a glance to the window, he catches the curtains drifting backwards and forwards with the same breeze that sways the windchimes, filling the room again with that delicate ringing. It's not loud by any means. Neither jarring nor out of tune, but Byakuya can't help but feel a strange weight in his stomach. 

The covers are slowly pulled aside and long legs feel the crisp breeze. It's chilly, and mildly undesired, but there were a hundred or so other thoughts pulling at Byakuya's attention--although none more so than that pang in his stomach. His feet slip into his house slippers and he rises from his bed, stretching slightly before crossing around the foot of the bed and to those curtains. Once pulled back, he sees the chimes in their entirety.

They're pretty, for what they are... But so many things had been destroyed in the wake of Despair that even the keen eye of Byakuya Togami fell victim to settling for second-rate possessions. They're rusted slightly--most definitely dented in more places than one... But she had chosen them from the rubble of broken houses, saved them from the destruction of destroyed lives. She'd found something beautiful in this desert of a city, and for that he'd deem them priceless. No prize, no gem more valuable.

But there's that feeling in his stomach that intensifies each time they bounce off of one another. He wouldn't put them away or put them down, but he feels the window closing would be enough. He reaches to the top of the sill and pulls it down slightly, only to hear a stirring behind him.

"B-Byakuya?"

There's a gentle sound of a shift in warm blankets. A thick comforter is pushed to the side and a tired Touko Fukawa finds the energy to sit up. Byakuya only slightly turns to notice her out of the corner of his eye, and her gaze is met with a hint of softness that only someone who truly knew him could detect in the normal sharpness of his focus. There's a soft hum in response from him as he glances back at what he's doing. He hasn't quite pulled down the window yet, pausing to gauge a reaction from her.

Touko rubs at her groggy eyes and takes a moment to retrieve her glasses from the nightstand, and although he wishes this process would take less time, Byakuya is a patient man. She blinks once, squinting as her eyes become adjusted. Her expression just seems drowsy at first--not really putting much thought into his position at the window, but that is quickly replaced by a sad and solemn look.

"You don't like them?..." she asks quietly, pulling the covers completely aside to rise from bed. A simple nightgown flows around her knees as she slides her own slippers on, meeting Byakuya across the room.

Byakuya, of course, expected this, and his hands pull back from the window. "Of course I do," he mentions quietly. Normally his voice is easy to cut through gentle breezes, but there's a gentleness in the air that he strives to preserve. 

Touko moves slightly in his way between him and the window, and an innocent smile makes its way to her lips as she watches them bounce off of one another. "I-I think they're really lovely..." she admits, hands wringing against one another. "It makes everything feel like it was before... e-everything."

And there it is. A bit of reasoning to this strange feeling... And of course it came from Touko. Byakuya is well aware that she's much more coherent of emotions--namely his. Understanding feelings that aren't apathy and distrust is something that he tries daily to improve at, and her explanations are all too helpful. There's a bit of frustration in the back of his head for not realizing this sooner, but letting people help him is something he's trying to get better at, too.

"It does," he agrees, satisfied with a reason, but just as unsettled as to why this atmosphere gives him discomfort.

His normally sharp gaze fades out the window, past the chimes and across the littered street. Future Foundation had given them a more secure and stable place to live as Japan succumbs to its own rehabilitation, but Touko had mentioned to him that she wished they could live in a house and not in the apartments where everyone they'd grown closer to still resided. And of course, what she wants, Byakuya wants, and Byakuya always gets what he wants.

There were a few others that lived in this worn down neighborhood, all striving for the home life that they'd lost during the Despair, so they weren't alienated by any means. They were just close enough to attend to their duties as part of Future Foundation, but far enough that things could feel normal. Far enough their lives could restart together.

Gentle arms sliding around his arm brings Byakuya back to his senses, and he glances down to see Touko's big eyes staring up at him. There's a tug on the corner of his lips, and he glances back outwards... But Touko's expression falters into concern.

"Is something b-bothering you?" 

An innocent question that fills Byakuya with a sense of transparency. 

"Why do you ask?"

"So there is something..." she confirms, nodding once. She leans her cheek gently on his arm, trusting him with a fraction of her weight. She's completely confident that he wouldn't let her fall, and of course, he never would. "D-Do you want to talk about it?..."

"I'm unsure as to what needs to be said," he admits, trying to recall the issue at hand. "The chimes woke me with a start and I went to close the window."

A quiet silence, broken again by another gust of wind and gentle chiming. A small hum resonates from Touko before she pipes up again. "I-Is that all?"

At that, Byakuya isn't sure what to think. He knows better than to believe Touko is writing off his words like it's nothing. Nobody took his feelings more seriously than her, after all. All that he can come up with is that she's trying to persuade him into thinking more seriously into his emotions. Very well. He'll play her game. He takes a deep breath before venturing into his own mind.

"As I said, I woke with a start," he repeats, his voice irritated and childish. It felt a bit infantile to have his proverbial hand held while talking about his feelings, but he complies nonetheless. "I thought there was something dangerous outside if it was loud enough to wake me."

"Mm..." Another sweet hum from Touko. A bit of his irritation melts away. "S-So you were scared something was going to hurt you?..."

"Us," he corrects immediately, missing no beat. "With all recent events considered, I feel I have a right to be on edge."

Touko nods. She goes quiet for a moment, picking out the perfect prose as an experienced author does. Byakuya waits patiently for her thoughts.

"So you're n-nervous that everything is going to st-start up again?..."

Well, that certainly is an interesting point. Byakuya obviously hadn't considered the he feared the past returning, or that he feared the past at all. Ever since this started in Hope's Peak, he's lived every day as it was handed to him. He pushed forward, prevailed, and moved on. Through all of the work with the Future Foundation and inevitably moving into this neighborhood with Touko, he never had a time to relax--never had a time to reflect on the past.

He didn't exactly plan for this time to be used for reflection and relaxation. In fact, he's quite keen on finishing up his time with Future Foundation to rebuild his family's legacy, as he vowed years previous.... So maybe that's just it. Relaxing given his fast-paced life, in a quiet town on a cool summer morning and arising to the sound of chimes in the wind was so foreign to him. There's no immediate threat to exceed and prevail. 

His silence ends abruptly. "Is it wrong of me to want an outside pressure to push me towards my goals?"

Touko's innocent eyes blink up at him. "Hm... P-Perhaps not wrong..."

"Hm?"

Her eyes dart away, looking immediately flustered while being put on the spot. Byakuya can feel her adjust her weight against him. "I-I wouldn't say it's w-wrong... But, Byakuya-sama," she mumbles, squeezing tightly onto his arm. "I-I think a break from the chaos would be good for us... Both of us b-but especially you."

"I'm unsure if I have time for a break," he says simply, brushing it off like stray lint on a freshly pressed shirt.

A small noise escapes Touko of obvious displeasure. She squeezes even tighter. "A break would be a n-nice change of pace... It doesn't have to be long, Byakuya-sama." She releases some pressure from her grip, but instead leans into him more with her cheek. "D-Don't you want some alone time with m-me? We finally have space all to ourselves... Wh-Who knows what unspeakable acts we c-could find ourselves in..." 

It becomes immediately apparent that Touko is drooling on his arm... But he doesn't seem too bothered. 

The wind passes them by once more, and the ringing that sat ill in his stomach now fills his body with a wave of relaxation. The sun in front of them peaks further up past distant buildings, greeting them with a day of peace and revitalized life.

Byakuya pulls Touko close, tucking her head into the nape of his neck and giving her a gentle kiss on the top of the head. Muffled giggles come from beneath him, and a content grin makes its way upon his lips. 

"...I suppose a small break is fine," he agrees, holding her close and swaying to the periodic twinkle of windchimes against a summer breeze.


End file.
